Navigation

Greece asks France to provide credit insurance for exports

Caretaker Development Minister Yiannis Stournaras has written to French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici asking that Paris provide credit insurance for exports to Greece, as recent European Union regulations permit.

The letter comes after French firm Coface, the world?s third biggest credit insurer, refused to cover new shipments of goods to Greece because of the risks of the nation leaving the euro currency and customers defaulting on payments.

Fearing that other countries may follow suit, Stournaras wrote to the French finance minister, according to the state-run Athens-Macedonia New Agency asking that the French state will provide credit insurance for goods heading to Greece.

The letter comes in response to concerns that Greece could begin to face shortages in products and services.

Five percent of Greek imports are from France, while 50 percent of the goods imported into Greece come from European Union countries.